SC State University’s Rehabilitation Counseling Program will host its 5th annual Diversity Lecture Series on Thursday, April 22, 2010 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the K.W. Green Student Center’s Bulldog Lounge, located on the campus of SC State. This year’s theme is “Diversity: The Eyes of the Future.”

With a mission to train rehabilitation counselors who can function effectively as counselors and as service coordinator/consultants for persons with disabilities, SC State University’s Rehabilitation Counseling Program continues to excel as one of the most well-known programs in the state of South Carolina.

Debra A. Harley, PhD will be the guest speaker for the event. Harley is the professor and chair of the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY. Her primary interests are cultural and gender issues, substance abuse and ethics.

Harley has published extensively in top tier journals of rehabilitation counseling, and is the co-editor of the book, “Contemporary Mental Health Issues Among African Americans.” She received the Educator of the Year Award from the National Council on Rehabilitation Education in 2006. Harley is also the former editor of the “Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling” and the “Journal of Rehabilitation Administration.”

Harley is a board member of the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC), commissioner for the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE), and faculty associate with the University of Kentucky Center on Research on Violence Against Women.